


Earned

by orphan_account



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Background Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland, F/F, Fluff, Ice Skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 00:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7337281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As it turns out highly trained Shadowhunters get frustrated really easily when mundanes are better at things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earned

There is a chance that Clary might not have thought this all the way through.

"What kind of activity is this?" asks Alec, who is holding onto the railing of the rink and glaring at the group of ten-year-olds that miss him by only an inch when they skate past him.  
"A fun one," Simon says and earns a flat look from Alec for sounding a tad too gleeful. "Y'know... For people who have lives."

"Come on, Alec, have a little fun. We earned this." Clary raises her eyebrows in a challenge, trying not to snicker at the sight of three Shadowhunters trying to adjust to a new environment where they don't have to locate an immediate threat.  
"Yeah, come on, Alec," Simon echoes and doesn't show any of the restraint Clary does. He looks about ready to shower himself in Schadenfreude. "Or are you afraid of the terrain where the mundanes could beat you any day of the week?"

Jace scoffs. "You think just because we've never been ice skating before you're going to be better at it?"  
Simon grins. "Well, if you ever let go of that railing and actually try it I might refute my statement. Or, you know, I'll finally get to laugh at you for being inadequate at something."

Isabelle, standing next to Clary and brimming with excitement, sighs in false exasparation when Jace's lips split apart, his eyes flaring up. He looks blindingly free for a second, before the determination settles in his shoulders and he lets go, ready to chase after Simon who, all the wiser, is already three steps ahead of him.

"Boys," Isabelle says and takes Clary by surprise when she reaches out for Clary's hand. Her fingers are warm despite not wearing gloves. It's unfair, Clary thinks when she checks if her gloves are still in her coat pocket. "You're okay here, right Alec?"  
Alec doesn't look like he's okay, still carefully regarding the strangers racing, twirling, falling around them. Behind them Magnus clears his throat.  
"He'll be alright."

Clary squeezes Isabelle's hand, because she can.  
"Maybe he'd be better if you put on some skates and came up here with us."  
"Oh god no," Magnus says and smiles. "This is way more entertaining. Plus, I'm not borrowing shoes. That goes against all my basic principles." They all know that Magnus could easily conjure himself a brand new pair of skates. None of them mentions it.

"Then you'll just have to motivate him from side lines." Isabelle looks at Clary and the expression in her eyes shifts to something more apprehensive. "Now come on. Show me how to do this."

Clary pushes herself away from the railing, pulling Isabelle with her.  
"I can't believe you guys never did this before." Isabelle is still smiling, but she wavers when she lets go of the railing. Clary steadies her by putting her free hand on her waist.  
"It's not really high on the list of things you need to be able to do to catch demons in New York." There's no bitterness to her tone when she says it but for Clary it's still hard to grasp, the width of things most Shadowhunters don't get to experience in all their lives.

She tries to keep her voice light. "Alright then, just follow my lead, don't let go of my hand, these little twelve-year-olds can be merciless."  
"It's not going be that difficult, you know. I do have basic training in most martial arts."

*

"This is impossible," she determines ten minutes later. Across the rink Clary spots Simon lowering himself to lean against the railing next to Jace, who's sitting on the ice looking up at him. Magnus is toasting Alec with a cocktail in his hand while he watches as Alec is being pulled forward by what Clary assumes are two fourth-graders.

Clary laughs. "Is this what you guys do whenever you don't pick something up in the first ten seconds? You just give up?" Isabelle is leaning on her, hair tangled in the hood of Clary's coat and obviously not caring that they're presenting a major hindering for the people skating past them. "Didn't over half of your life consist of training?"

"Yes," Isabelle says into her shoulder and makes it very hard for Clary not to smell her hair. "But there we're not getting upstaged by a bunch of little kids with inferior physique."

Clary pulls her hand out of Isabelle's pocket and tips up Isabelle's chin with one finger. She smiles. "Maybe you just need a reward." Isabelle's mouth stays in a line, but there are wrinkles forming in the corners of her eyes.  
"But I haven't achieved anything yet."  
"Exactly. But when you do..."  
"When I do?" Clary traces Isabelle's jaw to her neck, her ear, tucks a strand of hair behind it.  
"When you do," she says, "you get a wish."

Isabelle laughs softly, in the way that Clary loves, in the way that promises that she's here and she's real and she's happy here in the moment. With Clary.  
"Just for ice skating? That is a dangerous promise to make. What if I wish for a dog?" Clary looks at her, surprised.  
"You want a dog?"

"No." She looks pensive. "I used to, I think. Max was a baby so he didn't really do anything and Alec had Jace and then I heard that mundanes would sometimes adopt animals into their family." She's not looking at Clary and it's strange. Avoiding eye contact isn't Isabelle's style in any mood Clary has ever seen her in.

"Well," Clary says, to say _something_ , "if you really wanted a dog we could get you a dog." Her hand is still splayed over the side of Isabelle's head, their breath coming out of their mouths in white clouds. Something's dancing behind her eyes when Isabelle looks Clary in the eyes.  
"Alec would be furoius."

"Oh," Clary says, seperating herself from Isabelle, holding onto only her hands. "Simon is a very passionate dog person, that would be fun to watch."


End file.
